About the Book

Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner offer the long-awaited paperback edition of Freakonomics, the runaway bestseller, including six Freakonomics columns from the New York Times Magazine and a Q & A with the authors.

Book Description

More Than 4 Million Copies Sold WorldwidePublished in 35 Languages

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool?What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?How much do parents really matter?

These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He studies the riddles of everyday life—from cheating and crime to parenting and sports—and reaches conclusions that turn conventional wisdom on its head. Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author and journalist. They set out to explore the inner workings of a crack gang, the truth about real estate agents, the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan, and much more. Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, they show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives—how people get what they want or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing.

“Levitt is a number cruncher extraordinaire.” —Philadelphia Daily News

“Levitt is one of the most notorious economists of our age.” —Financial Times

“Hard to resist.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Freakonomics is politically incorrect in the best, most essential way.... This is bracing fun of the highest order.” —Kurt Andersen, host of public radio's Studio 360 and author of Turn of the Century

“Freakonomics was the ‘It’ book of 2005.” —Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“An eye-opening, and most interesting, approach to the world.” —Kirkus Reviews

HarperCollins Reader

When you purchase e-books from HarperCollins, you can read it on our HarperCollins Reader App that is available on your iPhone/iPad, Android or Kindle Fire.

We encourage you to use the HC Reader App since it supports our type of e-book files and you may have some trouble with a different reader app.

Instructions

Please make sure you have a HarperCollins Account. If you purchase/have purchased an e-book from HarperCollins, this is your account login and password. Otherwise, please click here to register.

Download the HC Reader App on iPhone/iPad, Android or Kindle Fire and sign in with your HarperCollins account (your username is an e-mail address). Please note that Kindle Fire users must edit their settings (Settings < Device) to allow installation of apps in order to download the HC Reader App. This App is not available in the Amazon App Store.